Matija Nastasic and Stefan Savic in..Life Swap

I'll admit, these are the types of signings that excite me greatly, young Balkan lads from the Serbian or Croatian leagues, among, well all others of course, but I am partial to the odd 'son of former Yugoslav' signing, particularly the defenders.
So, when Stefan Savic joined City in July 2011, I was indeed very happy. A Montenegrin international who had excelled while playing at centre-back for FK Partizan in both Serbia and in the Champions League. Little did I know what would become of Savic over the following year.
Savic made his full debut for City in the formerly named Carling Cup against Birmingham City and he actually played very well. Of course, on that night Birmingham didn't offer much of a threat, but the Montenegrin was as solid as was possible. On the night, Stefan's aggression and will to drive forward with the ball shone through. For a moment, I thought we had signed a centre-back very similar to Nemanja Vidic in style, I had been duped.
Savic's Premier League performances were far from encouraging. Kompany had been sent off the week before at home to Wolves, so Mancini faced a difficult decision going into the game against QPR last November. He could either play his signing in Savic or one of Mark Hughes', Kolo Toure who at that point had played very few minutes of Premier League football since February of that year. He opted for the latter and City won 3-2. Loftus Road is of course a difficult place to go, the pitch is only a little wider than the goalposts at either end of it, and the fans are quite literally, right on top of the players. Nevertheless, Savic struggled to cope, fortunately for the team, they didn't suffer because of this in the end, but Stefan did, his confidence took a huge knock, and he wasn't quite ready when his time came around again in January.
Yet again, Savic was charged with having to fill in alongside Lescott in Kompany's four-game absence after the Belgian's red card in the Manchester derby. The lad had four games to prove himself then; Liverpool at home, Wigan away, Spurs at home and Liverpool away. We had drawn Liverpool in the semi-finals of the League Cup. Savic found it tough. Against Liverpool, he conceded a penalty very early on for a rash and unnecessary challenge on Daniel Agger. It was mistimed and clumsy, the latter being a quality that became increasingly frequent in his actions. For example, just over a week later against Spurs, he completely misjudged a header which allowed Defoe to round Hart and score, just after City had gone two-nil up. It seemed like he had completely lost his arse, even playing alongside two other centre-backs against Liverpool a few days later couldn't absolve him from committing sins, he was a wreck.
I don't want to bust out a cliché, but Savic is very much 'a confidence player' and confidence was far from something that ninety per cent of City fans had in him, nor he himself. A factor that may have influenced Savic's mental state might have been that only months before he moved to City, his father committed suicide. Now this is not an excuse, but at the time of said event, Savic was just nineteen, can you imagine how difficult it would have been for such a young lad to not only adapt to a new life in a new country, in a new and completely different league while coming to terms with the death of his father? Personally, I can't.

We didn't see much more of Stefan but for the title celebrations at the end of the season and he was transferred at the end of August, in fact, he was involved in a part-exchange for then Fiorentina defender, Matija Nastasic.

Both Nastasic and Savic were sold by FK Partizan in the summer of 2011, Nastasic found himself playing in Serie A after the move with Fiorentina. Now, I don't watch a lot of Serie A, but I watch a bit, and from what I saw of Nasty, as he has come to be nicknamed by some City fans, last term  it was far from surprising that we were being linked with him in the summer months. Often playing on the left-hand side of a back three, he played with assurance that is so rare to see in a young defender, always available for the pass and confident in his ball-playing abilities, a quality that Mancini has longed for in the defender that should partner Kompany.  The real praise for the Serbian came after he put in a fantastic performance in a game against Milan. He was up against Zlatan Ibrahimovic and a penalty aside, he afforded Zlatan the bare minimum, if there were any doubts before hand, it was clear after this game that young Matija would go a very long way in the game.
Since arriving at City, Nastasic has found a place in the heart of most City fans apart from the few who, out of loyalty I suppose which may be fair, want to see Lescott alongside Kompany in the team. He is the complete antithesis to what Savic was. Confident. It's amazing how much confidence can  have an impact on a player, but it does. I've never seen a nineteen-year-old centre-half want the ball as much as Nastasic does, and his quality on the ball is of a very high standard. Additionally, what you may notice about Nastasic is just how few tackles he makes, he'll make blocks and interceptions but it's rare that you'll find him in a situation in which he has to make one of those last-ditch tackles.
I said earlier that last September I had wrongly compared Savic to United defender Nemanja Vidic, well, I'm going to compare Nastasic to another United defender, Rio Ferdinand. Nasty does have many qualities that Ferdinand had, not least his 'footballing' ability as well as the incredibly cool head on his shoulders. He doesn't have the pace that Rio had but that's okay, as long as he passes on the injuries as well.

What's Savic doing now? Well, he's enjoying himself in Florence. He's only played a handful of games but he has shown his strengths nonetheless. A key difference between Serie A and the Premier League is of course the pace and the pressing, Premier League teams press much higher up the pitch, forwards give their opposition's defenders such little time and space. Like I said above, Savic's main qualities include his ability to drive his side forward from the back and at Fiorentina he can do this as their is very little pressure on the ball, and in the case that a forward does press high up the pitch, he can simply release the ball to one of La Viola's many registi. He's found the league and environment that suits him and his development, heck, I wouldn't be surprised if we see him back in England in a few years, whether it be for a Premier League team or in the Champions League, the boy has talent and at 21, he has plenty of time to learn to play the game as it suits him. He simply made the wrong move at the wrong time for him.
That said, I wouldn't swap him for Nastasic, this lad is a gem. City have conceded only a single goal when he and Kompany have started together in the league. Grande.

City vs Everton: Preview

Everton. Bloody Everton. One of the first games I went to against Everton was the 5-1 win on the final day of the 2003/04 season, I had been confirmed on the same day and had collected a fair wedge from numerous relatives. That was a good day. Wins against Everton since however have been few and far between, and last year's win against the toffees was down much to the magic of David Silva despite Jack Rodwell's commendable effort in reeling the Spaniard in.
Once more, both Gael Clichy and Jack Rodwell will miss out tomorrow due to injury while Micah Richards has a few more weeks recovery just yet before Mancini can consider him for selection. Unfortunately, the hamstring injury that forced Milner off not long after he came on on Wednesday also rules him out of the game tomorrow.
Luckily for City, both Mirallas and Coleman will be missing for Everton for another week yet, while Neville will be missing until January. Another doubt for Everton is Leighton Baines who picked up a hamstring injury in midweek.
Garcia had a very poor game this week so he may sit this one out, forcing Yaya to drop deeper into defensive midfield, opposed to the box-to-box role he was given on Wednesday, and if fit to play, expect Nasri to come back in. City could line up as below:

Some fans might be surprised to see Balotelli there as, in truth, he wasn't great on Wednesday night but neither was Aguero for that matter, and besides, Balotelli was persistent and ended up bagging his goal, something that Kun couldn't manage during his sixty-odd minutes on the pitch, nor could he at Stamford Bridge on Sunday, where both he and Dzeko failed to turn up.

If City are to win this then they'll need huge performances from Kompany, Nastasic, Barry and Silva. Jelavic is one of the best first-time finishers in the league, if not the best, more often than not he only needs half a chance to stick the ball in the back of the net. It will be up to one of Nastasic or Kompany to limiting the Croatian to scraps in the box, something the pairing are proving they're certainly capable of doing to most Premier League strikers.
Fellaini as we all know is also a huge threat, quite literally. In terms of bringing the ball down on his chest from goal-kicks, there are few better. When John Hartson played professionally, defenders used to complain that they couldn't see around him, he was simply too big, Fellaini is very much similar to the Scotsman in the sense that he blocks opponents' views when he brings the ball down. I don't expect Barry to challenge him successfully in the air, it's up to one of our centre-halves to do that, Barry's job will be to pick up every second ball that descends from Fellaini's chest among other things.
Finally to Silva, he's looking very, very sharp again (praise the lord). His touch, his ball-retention and weight of pass have all been gold. Everton's central-midfield is quite weak in my opinion and can be very much 'got at'. If David can expose the space between the likes of Osman and Distin, of which there will be a lot, it's very much possible that our forwards could be dining well tomorrow.

We'll need to be dogged for much of the game as Everton will certainly make it extremely difficult for at least sixty-five minutes if not the whole ninety, but ultimately the game will be decided by how many of the chances that Silva and Fellaini create, will be finished off by each teams' strikers. I expect a carbon copy of the same fixture last year with City triumphing after a frustrating opening sixty-minutes, but it will be magic that decides the game, not industry.
City 2-0 Everton is on the cards again.

Wigan vs City: Change of System Does the Business Again For Bob

Christ, it was cold. Absolutely freezing. At one point, I thought the weather had decided the fate of the match. We didn't start well, nor did we play particularly well until Mancini changed the system, but the points are in the bag and it's shaping up as a straight fight between ourselves and United for the title now. Chelsea are slacking, seven points is a difficult to gap to close at any stage of the season. Eight points isn't too much though. Eight's alright.
On paper, our starting eleven looked alright I suppose. A team capable of getting the job done, possibly with a few extra goals to boot. However, this wasn't case. The team lined up as I had expected on seeing the team apart from two players. Balotelli and Aguero.
Aguero lined up on the left of a 4-2-3-1, ahead of Zabaleta, left-back for the night. A bizarre decision in my opinion as Aguero doesn't offer any natural width, he's a centre-forward, he should play in the middle, Mancini knows this. Balotelli will also become a true centre-forward in a couple of years, but in recent times, particularly last season and the year before that, Mancini has opted to play him on the left-hand side, cutting in. I'd have started Sinclair, there were spaces between Wigan's centre-halves and wing-backs that needed to be exposed by direct running.
Kompany and Nastasic were yet again very good apart from affording Wigan a couple of chances, which I suppose is acceptable, only one goal conceded in six league games now with those two at the heart of the defence.
The first half was an even but relatively dour affair, consisting of few chances but for those of both sides' Ivorians, Yaya and Koné. City, as stated above would have benefited from some width on the left equal to what was being offered by the increasingly impressive and affable Maicon on the right. The Brazilian is starting to build a telepathy that Silva has developed with both Pablo and Micah.
Garcia and Yaya, however, were largely unimpressive, particularly the Spaniard who was slower to react to danger than the player I had seen previously in the Portuguese league was. He was weak on the ball and consistently gave the ball away. He'll be given plenty of time to adjust from me but his descent down the tunnel on being substituted won't build any bridges with his doubters.
Onto the second half and the change in system. Milner on for Garcia and Kolarov for Aguero. A three-at-the-back system which provided the width we were crying out for, and put Balotelli up front with Yaya and Silva just off of him. It gave Maicon the freedom to gallop forward even more than he had already been doing so, and allowed Yaya to expose the spaces in the channels that I said Sinclair would have been oh so useful for.
Within minutes came the opening goal, Maicon's running down the right hand side dragged the centre-backs out of position, leaving more space int he middle of the park for the likes of Silva and Barry, who incidentally carried the midfield last night. Certainly, Al-Habsi made a bad mistake for the first goal, he hsouldn't have spilled what was an ordinary shot, but take nothing away from Balotelli who worked hard to not only make the rebound but stab home at the second attempt.
Not long after, Milner larruped one into the top corner. No chance for the keeper. Again, it came from the space created in the middle by the wing-backs dragging the defence wide.
Special mention to both Barry and Zabaleta. Gareth was outstanding in midfield last night and as said above, pretty much carried Garcia until he was hooked and Yaya until the system change, while Pablo excelled in the three positions he played in although Stam got the better of him a couple of times. I hope he stays for a long, long time. Dare I compare him to Zanetti? Or is that too bold of me. Fuck it, he's our Zanetti, he'll be fit to play ninety minutes at the age of thirty-nine will Zabaleta. Barry was the man of the night though, both for me and Sky I believe, it's about time he got the recognition he deserves, people would do well to actually watch what he brings to this City side rather than constantly referring to that day in Bloemfontein.
All in all, a good win for City. Patient and persistent. Credit to Bobby for the changes that...changed things. A lot of people in the stands expected it to be Mario who would make way, not Aguero, but Bob got that one right, as he does so many things. Just don't play Aguero on the wing ever again, Don Roberto. Please.

We're in The Europa League? Lets Try and Win it, eh?

There is an an arrogance from much of the English media towards foreign leagues that is far from discrete. For a little over a decade, the Premier League has been placed on a pedestal above the likes of Serie A and La Liga, possibly quite rightly, you need only look at some of the talents to have played for Premier League teams in order to understand just why it was rated so highly; Bergkamp, Henry, Ronaldo, Cantona, Samaras. The list knows no end. In addition to this, United were Champions League finalists three times between 2008 and 2011, while Arsenal made the final in 2006, Chelsea in 2008 and Liverpool won the competition in 2005, beating AC Milan in the final, but were no match for the Italian club when they met in Athens two years later. During these periods, the Premier League played host to some of the best teams in the world, that much can't be doubted. The arrogance towards other leagues that has since followed though is astonishing.

Serie A as a division itself is not what it was say fifteen years ago, but has still been home to some top teams since then, Ancelotti's Milan, Mourinho's Internazionale and now, Conte's Juventus are expected to go far with just a little bit more financial backing. The likes of Napoli and Fiorentina are now enduring somewhat of a revival as well. 

It's fair to say that La Liga has become a two-horse race since Valencia last won it in 2004, it's now a far cry from a division within which Depor, Valencia and Atletico de Madrid had competed strongly only 12 years ago. Real Madrid and Barcelona are the dons in this league, of course, they are the two best teams in the world, but were aided becoming so by the quantity of TV money they receive in comparison to their lesser though of opponents.

How highly Serie A, La Liga, the Bundesliga and so on are though of isn't the point to be made here though, rather it is the complete disregard for teams from other European leagues such as the Eredivisie, Primeira Liga and the Russian league. These leagues have some of the best footballers in the world playing in them, and yet much of our media shows them about as much respect as I would to the dogshit I just stepped in.

Unfortunately, certain managers of English teams show these teams similar levels of respect when they face them in the Europa League. Of course, UEFA don't exactly dress what was formerly the UEFA Cup in a silk dress, red lipstick and six-inch stilettos, no, they have it's games played on a Thursday night, sometimes a Wednesday, but you're looking at a 5PM kick-off if it's a Wednesday. 5 o'clock, on a Wednesday. Regardless of this, how often do we see Premier League teams put out weakened XIs so that they may rest players for a 'six-pointer' at the weekend that, if won, may well put said team in the exact same position next year! More often than not, the team does lose its European game. 

I won't paint all mangers with the same brush, however. André Villas-Boas should be praised for the way in which he approaches the Europa League. It's a dead cert that some Tottenham fans may lament seeing their best players play in Slovenia on a Thursday when they have a big game only four days later against, say, Chelsea or City. Nevertheless, the opportunity of winning a European trophy is one considered to be too attractive to turn down by the Portuguese manager. He won the Europa League with Porto beating Braga in the final at the gorgeous Aviva Stadium in Dublin.
Hey, that's another factor that must be considered, the bloody fans who pay good money to see their team.
That Amsterdam place is supposed to be alright isn't it? Yes? Well, guess where the Europa League final is to be played next May. You guessed it. The trip to Ajax came too early for me in terms of income this year, so I'd quite like to go in May if possible. Is that selfish of me? There are other places as well, I'd love to go to Brussels, Hamburg or Copenhagen if given the chance. What's not to like about going to watch (insert team here) in the above cities?
Additionally, City fans can complain as much as they like about the groups we have found ourselves in in the last two years. Firstly, our lack of luck lies in drawing the most dangerous side from pot 4 in both 2011 and 2012, but the simple fact is that until we have enough coefficient points, we'll be stuck in pot two, coming up against European giants, which doesn't bother me so much, that's kind of the point of the Champions League. If the top pot is what you yearn for though, then it's probably in your best interests for City to compete and be successful in the Europa League, should we even get there.

The problem is that there is an inferiority complex so to speak from fans of clubs in the Europa League, "Thursday nights, chan.." etc..particularly from those whose club had only recently been part of the Champions League and whose fiercest rivals progressed through the easiest Champions League group possible with ease. That said, United did their time and have been knocked out early themselves. So should we finish third in our Champions League group,  lets show the Europa League and its competitors the respect they deserve eh, City?

See you all in Holland, lads (hopefully).

Wigan vs City: Preview

Second in the table. One point behind the leaders and unbeaten, despite not having yet hit top form, in fact we've barely even put it into fourth yet.
That said, in recent weeks, performances have begun to pick up a bit so the intensity of Sunday's display at Stamford Bridge was slightly disappointing. If things go their way on their day, Wigan can beat any side in the league, so we can't afford to put in a lethargic performance.

The Latics are likely to be without two influential players in Ivan Ramis and Shaun Maloney who both limped out of Saturday's victory over Reading early. I expect them to stick to their guns with a three-at-the-back system but the injuries may well mean that boss Roberto Martínez opts to go 3-5-2 rather than the 3-4-3 that his players have become accustomed to. 

Wigan's left hand side for me is there most dangerous, although it's attacking prowess will be weakened significantly with the loss of Maloney. Nevertheless, if Mancini chooses to start with a narrow 4-2-2-2, we risk being outnumbered in the middle and particularly down our right-hand side. Wigan are a dangerous side with a fantastic young manager orchestrating them, but they can leak goals and their formation may lead them susceptible to conceding should we counter-attack which is why, in my opinion, Mancini should offer Sinclair a chance in this game, alongside both Nasri and Silva.

I expect the number of people wanting to see Sinclair to feature to be a minority, possibly even singular (me) but his pace may prove to be very handy should we break their midfield, and we will, there is a lot of space to be exposed and attacked. Sinclair will prove to be a very handy player in games like this, and besides, he's our player, let's use him. The only negative of playing three attacking midfielders is that it means we are likely to start with only one striker, leaving two of Wigan's centre-backs free to defend without having to worry who they are marking, whether their opponent is running in behind and so on. Having said that, none of the three centre-halves featured in the above diagram are, without sounding too harsh, particularly intelligent defenders.

Tévez only featured briefly on Sunday, as did Balotelli so one of them has to start ahead of both Aguero and Dzeko, both of whose performances mean that they don't warrant a place in the starting XI. It's a toss up between Carlos and Mario for that one starting berth, but I'm edging towards the Argentine simply because he's scored goals in the league this season and, on the pitch at least, he's much more reliable, something which is vital if we do start with only one striker.  This game should be a chance for Nasri to prove himself in the middle, with Silva drifting in from the left or right. 

Clichy is still injured so Kolarov gets another start, hopefully he can provide more of an attacking threat than he did at Stamford Bridge, while there's no breaking up that Kompany-Nastasic partnership.

Prediction

If they do play with two strikers, I can see Wigan scoring, but they won't be as dangerous as they usually are in the 3-4-3. Like I said  though, they can be leaky at the back, and should Tévez play up top on his own, his best role, I can see him playing a blinder, particularly with the support he will have behind him. It's a big chance for the likes of Nasri, Sinclair and Kolarov to prove themselves. Nasri to show he's worthy of a central attacking-midielder spot, not just left out on the wing and Sinclair to prove himself altogether really, while Kolarov has to convince a lot of people that he's competent as a left-back in a flat back four. If we set up with as above: Wigan 1-3 City.

Chelsea vs City - Player Ratings

Please note that for me, a '10' is a near flawless performance and a '9' an excellent MotM display, so don't expect to see them handed out freely.

Hart - Had very little to do, perhaps unsurprisingly as Chelsea's attack was headed by Torres. Made one or two saves you'd expect him to make, but made came out for a cross he possibly shouldn't have and missed. Without wanting to be harsh. - 5.5
Zabaleta - By far City's best player in the first half, reading everything and making numerous important interceptions and tackles. Created a couple of chances including one for himself. More subdued offensively in the second half but nevertheless competent in his defending. - 7.5 MotM
Kompany - I didn't expect him to make the cut given that he left The Etihad on Wednesday night aided by crutches. Granted he was only up against Torres but didn't allow the striker any clear chances and was quick to step out and deny Mata space whenever he received the ball in and around our 18 yard box. Only criticism is that he could have been more assured in clearing Cech's high punts. - 6.5
Nastasic - I'm not one to play the "he's only.." card because if there is a kid in the team making mistakes and costing us points then it's probable that there is a more experienced head on the bench that can replace him. In Nastasic's case, he is only 19-years-old but he's looking so assured and confident that we needn't call on a more experienced player to replace him. For the most part dealt with what he had to efficiently. - 6
Kolarov - Not a fantastic game defensively, and I felt he could have taken advantage of the cover Milner would have provided should he had attacked Azpilicueta. I don't think he got at him enough and a card-happy referee may have cautioned him twice. - 5
Milner  - His industry played an important part in allowing Zabaleta to get forward in the first half. As always, worked hard for the team in a role that is heavily undervalued. Must criticise some of his decision making though, especially when we had an overload on the left-hand side in the first half but he delayed and soon after conceded possession.
Barry - Pressed Zabaleta close for Man of the Match, and like the Argentine played well in the first half in his usual role of mopping up and denying Hazard, Oscar and Mata a sniff of things. I don't know what to say about Barry other than he plays best when you don't take much notice of him. So, you know. - 7
Yaya - I love Yaya but yesterday was not one of his better days. No excuses regarding being held back as he had Milner to cover for him had he bombed forward. Uncharacteristically sloppy in his passing and carried a lack of mobility that may have cost City but for Barry. Hope he can find his form soon because when he wants to be - Messi and Ronaldo aside - he's the best match-winner in the world. - 5
Silva - Didn't carry form from his truly excellent performance on Wednesday night into the game, unfortunately. Found space between the lines, particularly towards the left flank but needed more help from Kolarov and Aguero to either give him a passing option or to draw the defender away (often Ivanovic) and allow him to work his magic. - 5.5
Aguero - Far from his best game. A world-class player but he didn't attack Ivanovic, who lacks mobility, as he should have done. Missed 'a sitter' which is excusable but his movement seemed a little bit out of sync, he seemed very eager and could have done with just settling down a bit. Possibly should have been replaced earlier. - 5
Dzeko - The decision to start him baffled most, especially given Tevez's record against Chelsea. There was some talk of Mancini possibly utilising Milner and Tevez as wing-backs which would have made some sense, as it's a system that would suit Dzeko in my opinion. However, he didn't and Dzeko's touch unsurprisingly let him down at times, but he may have got an assist had Kun scored that chance. - 5

Subs

Tevez - Should have certainly started for me but failing that should have been introduced much, much earlier. Having said that, he didn't have much impact on the game, not as much as he should have done given how Chelsea felt they could win the game in the later stages of the game as Ramires pressed on alongside Oscar et al. - 5.5
Balotelli - Only featured for around eight minutes but touch let him down immediately and his brain a little later on. Was wasteful in that particular moment when he either could have passed or shot. - 5

Chelsea vs City: Tale of a Boring, Box Office Encounter

A four o'clock kick-off on a Sunday afternoon. A reasonable kick-off time I suppose if you were watching the game on TV, maybe not so much if you were a fan who went to the game, even less so if you travelled down from Manchester.

Anyway, what a fucking waste of a television slot! Granted, this game was always going to make the live cameras, and it's easy to say the above in hindsight, but fuck it, I'm saying it.

This was of course Benítez's first game as Chelsea boss. The Spaniard's appointment has been met with disdain by some Chelsea fans. Understandable I suppose given the history between Rafa, Chelsea and their fans (he has been quoted as saying Chelsea fans lack passion). Additionally, they'll be pissed off at Roberto Di Matteo's laughable sacking, only months into a two year contract and, months after winning the Champions League and FA Cup. Although, the boos and A4 banners were pathetic.

City, in their lovely (shit reference to 'Arry, there. Welcome back, twitch) maroon strip started the game the brighter of the two sides and indeed had the best chance of the first half. Best chance of the game even. Heading isn't particularly Aguero's forté, in fact, correct me if I'm wrong but I don't believe he's scored a header for us yet. Regardless, I'd have backed a striker of Kun's quality to stick the ball in the net from all of six, possibly seven yards. He just didn't make the right connection, rather than head it down into the ground, the Argentine didn't make the contact he would have hoped for, instead allowing Cech to make a very easy save. 

Other chances from the first half included Silva nodding over from ten yards, although his chance can't be considered anywhere near as easy as Kun's, and Zabaleta having a shot saved, rather uncomfortably, by Cech.

Chelsea themselves endured a quiet half, much due to the industry of Milner and to the assured performances of Barry and Zabelta, who was by far player of the first half, City's best player both in defence and attack. Although, the home side did liven up towards the break without creating, well, anything. Not a special half, but watchable.

The second half however, was dire and very little of note actually happened. A chance for Torres, the belated introduction of Tévez and a few cards are among all I can recall. Perhaps the most noticeable incident came in the final moments when Balotelli charged towards the Chelsea box with the intention, in my opinion, of winning a free-kick. Mario knocked the ball around Luiz and just ran into the Brazilian, or at least made very little intention of going around him. By a similar token, the Chelsea defender made very little intention of getting out of the way, he may have even body-checked Balotelli. Referee Chris Foy then preceded to book Mario. A bizarre moment, and one that proves that there is no middle ground when it comes to differentiating between foul and dive, of which this was neither.

On the whole, a point at Stamford Bridge is no shame, but I can't help but feel it should have been three, partly because after encouraging signs in recent weeks, we should have moved through the gears in this one and put in a performance of significance. To tell the truth, we didn't even get out of third, to our own disadvantage.

One final note: City players aside, alongside Kaka, Torres used to be my favourite player in the world, it's a travesty to have witnessed him descend like this. Yesterday ended any debate for me, he's well and truly gone, both mentally and physically.

Preview: Chelsea vs City

Despite our elimination from the Champions League, it has been a good week. On Wednesday, fourteen years to the night after playing Gillingham, City hosted Real Madrid. Heading into the game, I think we all knew that City had all but been knocked out of the competition with two games to play and therefore, although Wednesday's game against Franco's boys was of more significance, our trip to Chelsea on Sunday should be deemed more important. Yet that didn't stop one or two of our players from putting in some truly outstanding performances.

Chelsea, rather unjustly, sacked their Champions League winning manger, Roberto Di Matteo on Wednesday morning following the club's 3-0 loss to Juventus in Turin. The result means that Rafa Beníez may be leading his team out to the Europa League anthem after Christmas, as may his Roberto Mancini.

City are likely to be without captain Vincent Kompany after the Belgium picked up a knock to the knee in midweek, however it is possible that Clichy may return after missing Wednesday's game with an injury, while the likelihood of Balotelli making the bench is unknown despite having trained with the rest of the squad for the past five days or so. Expect some bad mathematics from the media if he doesn't make the cut.
Part of me doubts that Mancini will opt for the same system as was played in the first half of the game against Los Blancos, simply because the two of the three centre-backs played, Zabaleta and Kompany played appallingly in the system. That said, against Spurs, the three-at-the-back system worked because we had Clichy and Zabaleta either side of Kompany, as Tottenham played with only one striker, allowing one of Kompany or Gael to pick up the Adebayor, and leave Pablo as the spare man. Given that Chelsea themselves only play with one up top, it is possible that Roberto may adopt 3-4-1-2 again, as it also provides width that might well prove handy given the narrow nature of the '3' in Chelsea's 4-2-3-1.

On the other hand, if Mancini does fancy playing Lescott and Nastasic together, then he may decide to go with a flat back four, with Zabaleta and Clichy as full-backs. Granted we then lose much of our width but it adds much more stability to a defence that hasn't particularly been convincing when in a three-at-the-back system. After being introduced at the beginning of the second half, Javi Garcia produced his best performance in a blue shirt yet, which may well have convinced Mancini to give the Spaniard the nod tomorrow ahead of Gareth Barry. 

Carlos Tevez's record against Chelsea is fantastic, especially since joining City, and given Dzeko's lackluster performance in midweek, I expect him to partner his fellow Argentine, Sergio Aguero up front, regardless of the formation in which the players behind them are playing. We may well see City line up as below:

Unfortunately for Nasri, Milner may well get the nod due to his work ethic and positional awareness that will allow him to slot in should either Zabaleta or Yaya bomb forward. Silva's selection is self-explanatory. I think Manicni may prefer to start with four defenders, then if needed, Maicon or Kolarov may be brought on to provide width in the final half hour. Both are useful options coming off the bench.

Chelsea's selection is somewhat more difficult to predict, because I don't think Benítez will want to begin with a lose, regardless of how nice the football may be on the eye. That said, he doesn't really have any option but to play Oscar, Hazard and Mata (or another attacking trio) because the only defensive and central midfielders available to him are Mikel, Ramires and Romeu, and I'm not sure he'll want to throw the young Spaniard in after having found himself out of favour for so long. 

Furthermore, the defence is almost impossible to predict. Take your pick from either Azpilicueta-Ivanovic-Luiz-Cole or Ivanovic-Cahill-Luiz-Cole. I'd be inclined to pick the former as I'm not convinced by the Luiz-Cahill partnership, despite their heroics in Munich in May. Should Cole be deemed not fit enough to play, Bertrand will play.

Tevez and Silva for City and  Mata and Oscar for Chelsea will be the key players as they will be expected to expose the space that Ramires and Yaya leave behind when they bomb forward. The extra man in midfield will prove pivotal here as Milner will offer Garcia the option Mikel won't have when both are in possession. I expect goals, at least three, as Chelsea's defence, as has been said, has produced numerous unconvincing performances thus far this season, and City will have to deal with an unwelcome change in their defence.

Bets

You can find the following odds at Paddy Power:

• Draw/City at 11/2 on the half-time/full-time market.
• Tevez to score anytime at 9/5.
• City to win both halves at 8/1.

Luis Suárez to City? Go to Bed.

Stories surfaced on Wednesday night reporting that Manchester City are lining up a £40 million bid for Luis Suárez in January. First of all, it's probable that this story has come from the Liverpool end rather than City's as the story was broken by a number of Merseyside football writers. Why, I don't know. Maybe it's come from a source within Liverpool not actually employed by the club. Anyway, the move would be an outrageously bizarre one for a number of reasons.
In the summer, City had to restrict their spending somewhat as they are looking to comply with UEFA's financial fair play rules, regardless of whether the rules actually stand up to spending. It's unlikely that any of our Mancini's signings were his first choice, in fact it's improbable, the management simply weren't willing to budge. I think City ended up spending about £30 million net, which isn't a lot for them, it's actually very little. So, to go out on spend £40 million on a forward, a position in which we are well-stocked, would be ludicrous, unless we got rid of a couple, which isn't completely ridiculous.
Suárez is an extremely gifted footballer. In many ways he reminds me of our very own Carlos Tévez, particularly in how he forces defenders into mistakes simply because of how zealous he is when out on the pitch. Similarly to Tévez, Suárez likes to have the ball for long periods of time and run at centre-backs, something which in my opinion, has slowed down City's game magnificently this season, surely Suárez would do just the same? Like I said, he's a fantastic player, the nutmeg master, so there are very few that question his ability.
Many do however, question his goal return, possibly rightly so. In Holland, well Ajax more so than Groningen, Suárez was a renowned goalscorer and even had a goals-to-game ratio greater than one for the 2010/11 season, but since moving to English has failed to apply the finishing touch to some quite brilliant performances. Of course, despite the "strikers are judged on..." argument, there is much more to a forward's game than scoring goals, and Suárez offers much more.
Then again, City aren't in need of a striker who offers what Tévez already does, in fact they are in need of a truly clinical striker, one who only needs two or three half-chances in order to score; a Falcao, a Cavani or, it pains me to say it, a van Persie. Of course any talented striker of this ilk would cost a lot of money, but wouldn't you rather spend money on something needed rather than indulging in a nice player? City already have one of those.
Additionally, the British media do like to indulge in the odd snipe at City, "City in Crisis", "Changing of the Guard" etc..Why would we offer them any ammunition? Aside from the tittle-tattle that they sensationalise regarding Balotelli's private life, most of their derogatory remarks are slanderous. With all due respect Suárez, many consider him to be an odious individual because of his diving and of course because of his racist remarks towards Patrice Evra at Anfield last term.
The move just wouldn't make any sense whatsoever for any party, not even Suárez. Liverpool would lose their best player and in doing so would be conceding that City are a bigger team than them and can't compete, despite what some of their fans may believe. City have already got a player identical to, and better than, Suárez in Tévez who is unlikely to be going anywhere soon because of his wages. As for the man himself, well, would you take odds on him being able to walk down Deansgate without having his legs broken by United fans? Next.

City vs Spurs - Preview

Having lost to Ajax this week, albeit somewhat unjustly, City will be looking to respond with a bang against Spurs, who they host on Sunday. Granted, we should have been awarded a penalty, and on another day the linesman might not have flagged Kolarov offside prior to Aguero converting the former's cross, but the fact remains that in order to beat Tottenham, the lethargy and complacency that was obvious for all to see during much of the first-half on Tuesday, must have been eradicated come Sunday.
I would say that I trust Bob will take care of it but I think it's something that has been consistent with our performances so far this season. Without wanting to sound like much of the spiteful journalists out there, at half-time on Tuesday night, I felt as if the team weren't playing for the manager and for the fans, the passion they showed in the second half duly restored my faith in them however.

Spurs, on the other hand, had a slightly more enjoyable week in Europe, beating the champions of Slovenia, NK Maribor, by three goals to nil at home, Jermain Defoe bagging a hat-trick. Despite AVB's preference not to start both Adebayor and Defoe together, the Togolese forward changed things for Spurs when he came off the bench the other night, offering them the ball retention and back-to-goal link up play that Defoe really lacks.
Of course, Villas-Boas has never liked selecting two strikers to play together, he'd much rather play in a 4-3-3 than a 4-4-2, as it enables his wingers to press much higher up the pitch, a key factor in his tactics at Porto, and something he didn't have the personnel to execute at Chelsea.
However, I do wonder, given their current injury problems in central-midfield, whether AVB will consider fighting fire with fire and throw both Adebayor and Defoe up top? At the moment, both Dembélé and Parker are missing, while Spurs go into the game tomorrow sweating on the fitness of two of their defensive midfielders, Sandro and Livermore.
For me, this leaves Villas-Boas with two options, he can either, as said above, go 4-4-2 with Huddlestone and possibly Sigurdsson or Dempsey in midfield, assuming Sandro and Livermore are both out, or he could try and play the possession game. This may mean sacrificing Defoe for the exciting young Spaniard, Iago Falqué or the equally exciting Englishman, Tom Carroll, who, like Adebayor, impressed on Thursday night. It would mean that he could play his beloved 4-3-3 and push City's full-backs back, as many teams have done to us in Europe and benefited magnificently. Adebayor would be needed for the said reasons above, ball retention and because of his ability to play with his back-to-goal, which is almost non-existent in Defoe's game.

Predicted Teams
City: Hart; Zabaleta, Kompany, Nastasic, Clichy; Garcia, Barry; Yaya; Nasri; Aguero, Balotelli. (4-3-1-2)
Spurs: Friedel; Walker, Caulker, Vertonghen, Naughton; Huddlestone, Sigurdsson, Carroll; Lennon, Defoe, Bale. (4-3-3)

We saw Spurs go to Old Trafford and attack United before successfuly soaking up wave after wave of attacks after the break. The key to their first-half success was Dembélé's pressing and hassling on Scholes who had a much more subdued game than usual, because of how little time and space he was allowed. Now City don't have a Scholes, someone who is going to dictate the game from deep, but they do have a Yaya Toure, someone who, if afforded the space, will terrorise defences and midfields with his powerful bursts all day long, except of course for the minutes in between in which he recovers gingerly. Without Dembélé, I don't think Spurs have a player who can stand in Yaya's way, so rather than start him deep, I'd expect Mancini to start Yaya in central-midfield with Garcia and Barry behind him, almost like a triangle, with Yaya the point at the top. If you play him too far forward, you risk not allowing him enough space to run into, which can often lead to him running to the byline and cutting one back aimlessly, as opposed to breaking into the box and making a clear-cut chance.
City have a wealth of talented strike power and each of our four fit forwards put forward a valid case to start. Dzeko of course has save City late on recently at Fulham at West Brom, while Tévez has run himself into the ground in recent weeks trying to create opportunities and lead the team to victory. But I think the boss will plump for Balotelli and Aguero because the former has shown just how much of a handful physically he can be in recent games as well as showing the effort which some may say was missing from many of his performances last season. Additionally, Mancini will know that AVB is faced with playing one of Vertonghen or Gallas at centre-back, both of whom struggle with strikers of Aguero's diminutive, mobile ilk.
Hopefully, David Silva will make an appearance on Sunday but should the opportunity arise it is likely to only be a substitute appearance. Nevertheless, his return has been long-yearned for, and will add a much-needed boost to City's displays because if the truth be told, our strikers often look like they're strangers to each other without him behind them.

It will be a tight game no doubt, but if the entire team's passion and fight mirrors that of Pablo Zabaleta's, then I think we'll take all three points, Spurs don't have the options available to compete in the middle, although if they go for the 4-3-3 above but with Adebayor replacing Defoe, I think they may have a chance.

City - Where We Should Improve

Following on from yesterday's piece on where City have gone wrong in the transfer market. Now, it's time to ponder how they could correct their errors.

First and foremost, I'd like to establish the positions where I think need improving and could be at a reasonable cost, before going into detail with names and such.

Deep-lying playmaker

Or for the Football Manager hardcores/ Italians among us, the regista. For me, picking up one of these is absolutely crucial to our success in the Champions League. In recent years, United's success has come with Scholes, Barcelona's with Xavi and Milan's came with Pirlo. Our inability to keep the ball when Silva is out of the team is astonishing.

In some ways, not getting Verratti over the summer before PSG picked him up hurts me just as much as missing out on Hazard does, because in case he had any, which he undoubtedly did, Verratti is proving his doubters wrong and showing that he truly is a great player and at only 19 (20 on Monday), PSG look to have got themselves a future star. But that chapter has been written and unless PSG's owners bugger off, leaving the club in the toilet, he won't be going anywhere soon.

The point remains though, we really could do with one, it's just about finding one and fitting him in.

• Nuri Sahin - At Dortmund, Sahin was phenomenal, receiving the Bundesliga player of the year award in 2011. He hasn't impressed so much thus far at Liverpool but if we could tempt Real Madrid into selling him in the summer, I'd definitely take him as he'd cost very little I think.
• Xabi Alonso - On the other hand, if they weren't to sell him, this begs the question as to what would happen with Alonso, as his contract is running down and they have Modric as well remember. A long shot but one to keep an eye on maybe?
• Ever Banega - Providing we could prevent his car from running over his own foot again, Banega would be an fantastic and cheap acquisition that would fill the void that needs to be filled with ease. An accomplished passer with both feet, Banega is cool, calm and also feisty, and despite potentially being cheap, certainly couldn't be counted as a 'bargain-bucket' signing.
• Hernanes - Hear me out here, I know when he's been deployed deep for Lazio it hasn't exactly worked out but it's a different kettle o' fish over here and his passes would be exploiting space that can't be found from deep in Italy because of the pace of their game. I think it would work, what would be difficult would be getting someone who is essentially a god-like figure away from Rome.
• Jordy Clasie - Although much of the talk in the Eridivisie maybe about Ajax's youth products, Clasie for me is without doubt the standout player in that league. At only 21, he's a fantastic talent and already an awesome player. His wikipedia will telly uo that he's been labelled as 'the Dutch Xavi', I don't know who said it, but they're not far off. He wouldn't cost too much and would definitely soften the pain of missing out on Verratti.

Winger

In 2011, we were after Sanchez, and this year, we wanted Hazard, neither happened. Although the latter would have suited us much better in my opinion, Sanchez might have proved just as worthy as with the pace and genuine ability he has and width he provides, he'd fill a pretty gaping hole in our game, one for which Scott Sinclair just doesn't suffice, despite my opinion that he does bring something.

• Pedro - More blind hope than anything, but Pedro would most certainly improve City tenfold. He has got the lot; pace, skill, touch, two excellent feet, scores a bucket-load, brilliant crosser, Barcelona would be crazy to let him go but they've come close to letting him go before, and if they needed to fund a move for Neymar, well, I'd welcome Pedrito with open arms.
• Ezequiel Lavezzi - All is not well with Lavezzi in Paris according to many reports. I'm not sure he takes much selling, blues saw first hand what Lavezzi could do in the Champions League last year. If he becomes available, I'd expect us to make a bid.
• James Rodriguez - Unlike 'Hulk', this lad's talent is no myth, he is the real deal. At just 21, the Porto winger has all the attributes to go as far as he likes in the game but I think leaving Porto is necessary for him to do so, but you know how the Portuguese work, he'd cost a fortune.
• Gerard Deulofeu - Lesser known, and probably less likely then Pedro, but anyway. Deulofeu was the star of Spain's recent U19's euro success and is the cream of Barcelona's current youth setup. There is little chance of him going anywhere but if he ever fancies joining his mate Denis Suarez for a bebida in Manchester soon, maybe Txiki can have a word.

There's no doubt in my mind that we'd have a much more balanced squad with just three strikers and three wingers/attacking midfielders who would challenge for spots in the huge games. If it were completely necessary to have four strikers, surely Guidetti would suffice, it's about time we gave some young lad of ours a proper chance. So that leads me to this.

Striker

We have a few of them, granted, but for reasons given in my last post, I feel City would be better served selling Dzeko and Balotelli and in turn buying just one striker, along with a pacey winger-cum-attacking midfielder. It would have to be someone who is primarily reliable, because one way or another, neither Dzeko nor Balotelli are. There aren't that many potentially available, but let's have a look:

• Falcao - He sounds the obvious choice, and that's because he is. Falcao is without doubt the best number nine in the world. His movement is untraceable aggressive. His finishing is instinctive and clinical, and for a man who stands only 5'10'' tall, his aerial ability is phenomenal. The Atlético de Madrid striker certainly wouldn't come cheap, his buyout clause is believed to be 60 million euro, and even then I believe only Spanish clubs can trigger it, but he's certainly worth it.
• Gonzalo Higuain - Not everyone's cup of tea, but there's no doubt that Higuain is a goal machine, having scored 98 goals in just 172 league games for Madrid. For that reason, there are question marks regarding his availability, and if he were to become available, would it mean Aguero going the other way. If so it's a 'no', but he's definitely worth looking at.
• Robert Lewandowski - The Pole joined German club Borussia Dortmund in 2010 and having struggled in his first season, bagged thirty goals in all competitions last year for the German League and Cup winners. United were linked with him consistently throughout the summer and possibly with good reason as he's already scored fourteen for Dortmund so far this term. At only 24 he's yet to reach his peak, he's not even near it, and I would definitely cost less than the Cavanis and Falcaos of this world. As an aside though, we all know that Dzeko is actually very talented, he simply struggles in our system. Lewandowski strikes me as a similar goalscorer to Dzeko just less cumbersome and a better all-round footballer. 
• Leandro Damiao - The 23-year-old was fantastic during the Olympics, showing the sort of form he shows week in, week out in the Brazilian Serie A, scoring six goals in five games. I have a sneaky feeling we may go after this lad.

NB: I understand there are many other names and possibilities, especially in terms of registas and strikers, but I haven't the time to go into extensive detail. Interested to hear your suggestions though.

Carlos Tevez – A Means To An End

September 27^th is a Thursday this year. Given that 2012 is a leap year, it will be the 271^st day of the year. On this day, the great Roman Francesco Totti will celebrate his 36^th birthday, while the folk over at Google HQ celebrate it’s 14^th.

However, September 27^th 2012 will also be the first anniversary, so to speak, of that night in Munich, a day that will be forever remembered by Manchester City fans, as well the six months that followed.

I needn’t explain what went on that night, in fact, I probably couldn’t even if I wanted to, because I don’t know. The truth is, I don’t think anybody knows what exactly happened because what is clear to me is that there was mass confusion and mis-communication between Roberto Mancini and Carlos Tevez.

Moaning in Munich

Now Carlos Tevez is arguably the best footballer I’ve ever seen put on “City Blue”, he’s probably the hardest working footballer that I’ve ever seen in a sky blue shirt, but the fact remains that in taking a six-month ‘hiatus’ from City, he completely disrespected the manager, the owner, the shirt, and most importantly, the Manchester City fans who would give everything to have the opportunity to be out playing on the pitch that he so disgracefully neglected.

However, Tevez returned when City were starting to flag. By the 21^st March of this year, City had been knocked out of the Champions League and then were knocked out of the Europa League. To add to this, we weren’t top of the tree for the first time since October. City were faltering and they needed someone to shake things up, David Silva hadn’t been on top form since the turn of the year and it was showing in City’s performances.

In all likelihood, Tevez’s ‘advisor’, Kia Joorabchian, probably agreed personal terms with AC Milan on behalf of Tevez last year, with a view to a permanent move in January of this year. However, City were stubborn and didn’t judge from their asking price, and rightly so as Galliani is known to be a horror to deal with. Alex Ferguson once said of the Italians:

“When an Italian tells me it’s pasta on the plate, I check under the sauce to make sure. They are the inventors of the smokescreen.”

It’s highly probable that Milan had lined up a deal with dubious “add-ons” and “instalments”.

However, he remained and revitalised a team that definitely needed a shake up, contributing greatly to a City side that overcame an eight point deficit to pip United to the league title. This is what it may have taken for City fans to forgive Tevez. For me, he was forgiven when he apologised to the club and to the manager, the goals were just the cherry on top if you like.

On the other hand, what happened in Munich is etched in the memory of every City fan, none will be able to forget. Some may not even be able to forgive, I suspect Mancini included.

Some may even ask what is the point? Football sold it’s soul to the devil a long time ago, what is the need in restoring it’s morals now?

This makes me wonder whether any footballers, particularly foreign, actually care about the clubs they play for. Or are they all mercenaries? Money is undoubtedly the precedent in today’s game, and although there are likely to be some that bleed their team’s colours, the majority are just waiting for pay day.

Carlos Tevez, Wayne Rooney, Cristiano Ronaldo. You name them, they’re mercenaries.

But we support them.

Tevez is perceived by myself as an utterly despicable man. Is it hard to accept this sort at my football club? No, not really. It can be considered the price of success.

Carlos Tevez helped contribute to the build up to the happiest day of my life. For that I am eternally grateful.

Friends reunited?